PAAL Announces All-Discipline PAAL Childcare Grants to Support a Mother Artist of Color Grant

Parent Artist Advocacy League for the Performing Arts has announced the first supporter of the first-of-their kind national, all-gender, all-discipline PAAL Childcare Grants to support a Mother Artist of Color Grant. It is with deep gratitude PAAL recognizes the cast of Junk at Arena Stage who is our first named sponsor for our childcare grant program. Below is a statement from the cast:

The cast of Junk at Arena Stage is happy to support PAAL in offering this grant to support working parents of color in the theater. Our cast has many working artists with families, so we understand the specific challenges that come with parenting as a theater artist. Thanks to the generous gift of The Prosky Fund, created to 'make life easier for the actor', we were able to sponsor this gift to help to elevate the work of our fellow artists, particularly artists of color who face even greater challenges. Thank you to PAAL, Arena Stage, The Prosky Fund and congratulations to the grant recipient!

PAAL founder Rachel Spencer Hewitt calls this sponsorship a "high-impact, radical act of artist support. The choice to sponsor a mother artist of color actively corrects one of the great deficits of our culture and our field. This grant from the cast of Junk is one of the clearest examples of how our field can gather to create community support of artists vulnerable to broken structures. It is a singularly generous and exciting movement forward. We cannot wait to award this grant and others to continue to effect change in how we support parent artists, particularly mothers of color."

For their second annual granting year, PAAL is doubling their support by creating two grants per category and adding an all new category in their commitment to diversify support for the field by doubling each grant track to distinguish childcare grants for leadership and childcare grants for creative generation. The PAAL grants for 2019-2020 are Individual Childcare Grants: Mother Artist of Color - Leadership Track ($750), Mother Artist of Color - Creative Track ($750), Mother Artist - Leadership Track ($500), Mother Artist - Creative Track ($500), Parent Artist - Leadership Track ($500), Parent Artist - Creative Track ($500), and the new Parent Artist of Color - Leadership Track ($500) and Parent Artist of Color - Creative Track ($500). Last year's grants were awarded to five individual recipients and eight institutions with a focus on impacting gender parity and diversity. In the first year offering the grants, PAAL received over 100 applications, and more are anticipated for year two. Recently, PAAL welcomed Laura Benanti as a PAAL Ambassador for their initiatives due to her passion for motherhood and parent support, especially for parents in the performing arts.

PAAL Childcare Grants are available for Individuals and Institutions. Application deadlines for 2019-2020 have been extended to December 15, 2019.

Parent Artist Advocacy League is a Fractured Atlas-sponsored organization that accepts tax-deductible donations. To donate and support the childcare grant and similar initiatives, visit the donation profile. To get involved with a local PAAL community, learn about other parent artist resources, including the National Handbook of Best Practices for supporting Parent Artists and the National List of Family Friendly Theatres, visit the website or contact PAAL directly. PAAL is presenting the first national PAAL Summit on Best Practices on Parent Support for institutions and leadership on December 6, 2019 in partnership with The Public Theater, with a key note Happy Hour featuring Emily Mann, Artistic Director of the McCarter Theatre Center, which will be co-hosted by A.R.T./New York that same evening. Registration for the summit is live and available via the PAAL website.

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